The 17th of June 2012, my brother, Trevor and I boarded the 2:30am flight from Brisbane to Singapore with Emirates.  With an one hour stop over before flying onto Dubai with a three hour stopover before arriving at Venice Airport at 8:30pm on the same day. 

Dubai Airport

We boarded a ferry to Venice and saw the city at night.  After disembarking from the ferry we took a look at San Marco before checking into Hotel Serenissima, which is in a great location.

 

Me at Hotel Serenissima with the kitchen staff at breakfast.

The next morning (18 June) we took an early morning walk to Railto Bridge before breakfast. 

Trevor at Rialto Bridge

We walked to San Marco and arrived half an hour before it opened and the queue was small so we lined up.  Just before it opened a tour guide told people in the queue that she does English tours.  We took the tour and it was great to have everything explained.  We paid extra to visit the Pala O'doro, which is an alter made with hundreds of gems of rubies, pearls, emeralds and so much more.  Another part we paid extra to see was the Treasury with items from the medieval times. 

San Marco Basilica

Outside of San Marco Basilica  and past the Doge Palace is the Bridge of Sighs.  From here we paid the 100 Euros to take a 40 minute gondola ride around the canals, it is a different way to see Venice. 



Our Gondola Driver

By this time the crowds was unbelievably busy so we returned to the street where our hotel was and did some shopping for Munro glass.  Once the day tripper left we caught a ferry from San Marco to Railto, along the Grand Canal but this was when the workers were leaving making it impossible to see the surrounds on the trip as we were standing up and couldn't see out the windows.  To finish off our day we had our first gelato here in Italy.

Lunch

19 June - A 4:30am start to see the sunrise over Venice, we had been recommended to see it from the Accademia, but due to our train departing early we had to leave before the sun hit this area, as it was bright before the sunrising on the canal due to the buildings being in the way.  

Venice nearing sunrise

 We took a ferry to the train station for the trip from Venice to Florence.  It was a fast train and was very comfortable, out the windows were views of flat countryside.We changed trains at Florence where a gypsie took the train tickets out of my hands, validated the tickets, grabbed my bags and got us on the right train, where she asked for money from both Trevor and I.  I paid her but hopefully we are more street wise next time, she did get us on the right train and showed us how to do things.  Travelling from Florence to Pisa we had beautiful views of Tuscany.  On arriving at Pisa we checked into HM Cavalieri and went for some lunch before catching a bus to see the Leaning Tower.  We visited Pisa Cathedral, which is full of beautiful artworks, marble floors and gold ceiling; Camposanto, a graveyard with a rose garden in the middle with soil from Cavalry, plus frescoes, marble floors with graves and Graeco- Roman sarcophagis; and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  What an experience! as the steps are marble and are slippery and well worn.  As you walk up the stairs you are drawn towards one wall until the lean changes and you are drawn to the other side.  From the top you can walk around the edge with views of Pisa. 

Leaning Tower of Pisa and Pisa Cathedral

Dinner at a pub near the hotel where we stayed.

Dinner

Pisa to Calci to Levanto.  The next day we caught a bus to Calci, travelling through the countryside near Pisa.  We meet our guide at the Calci Charterhouse which I read about on twitter.  To go through the Charterhouse you must take a tour.  The building is amazing and the guide was so informative, it was originally built as to house monks who take a veil of silence, only allowed to talk for a couple hours per week.  The artworks were stunning, your eyes don't know where to look to try to take it in.  We visited some of the many chapels, the Grand Duke's apartment (many of the wealthy men of the time had their own apartments to come and relax when they wanted and a monks cell.  The monks no longer went by their names but a letter, on their death they were buried in a grave which had the standard cross and no name on it.  When more monks died they would push all the boned to the bottom of the grave and buried another monk in the same grave.  Afterwards we visited the Natural History Museum also in the Charterhouse.  The rooms which the museum is housed in was once the places for the animals and storerooms.  It was great to include the museum for its displays but to also see more of the charterhouse and the grounds.  Afterwards, Trevor and I went to the markets and saw the local church before heading back to Pisa. 

Calci Charterhouse, a real gem

That afternoon we travelled from Pisa to Levanto, passing Carrara where marble is quarried from the mountains which are white as they are marble on the surface as well.  We checked into the Hotel Garden in Levanto which has marble floors and located above the main street near the beach.  This is a good hotel and I would recommend it to anyone.  The staff are so hopeful and the accommodation is maintained to a high standard. 

Hotel Garden, Levanto

I heard that a room is usually 120 Euros a night but this is covered by the 7 day walking tour I won through Peregrine Adventures.  It is the Jewels of the Cinque Terre & Portovenere (self guided) http://www.peregrineadventures.com/europe/italy/jewels-cinque-terre-portovenere-self-guided-2010.  After checking in Trev and I went for a swim, the "sand" looks grey as it is made up of fine marble and stone.  The water was cold but not uncomfortable cold.  It is clear, calm and deep, when you look at the sand from in the water it looks like the bottom of a swimming pool. Later that evening we walked through four tunnels to reach Bonassola, a small version of Levanto.

Levanto

21 June was the first day of hiking the Cinque Terre.  Today we got up early to do some laundry before breakfast and then headed off for the day.  Today's walk was eight kilometres and started by walking up stairs next to one of my favourite buildings in the town.  We walked to Costello of Saint George and continued further up the mountain.  The walk is classed as a moderate walk and I would agree, some parts seem hard but once again on flat land you feel comfortable. 

Track 1 - Levanto to Monterosso

The walk is step and rocky but worth the walk, we walked through orchards and forest and the views from Santo Antonio of Fegina and Monterosso is exceptional.  When descending to Fegina we saw a tower, harbour and when we continued down to the street we saw a sculpture of a man or god holding up a building.  I did a little retail therapy before we walked to the watchtower and then descended to Monterosso, where we had lunch with views of the town and beach. 

Monterosso

Afterwards we explored Monterosso where I bought Justin a gift and we saw photos of the floods from last Autumn.  We then boarded the train to Levanto, on our return we had a swim in the cool water before doing the Levanto town walk.  This walk starts from the town square which was once the harbour, we walked to the church of Sant' Andrea and up the stairs to the Castello of St George.  We continued around to the Torre dell' Orologio (the clocktower), following the medieval wall around town back to the town square to see the Loggia (harbour)and continued to S. Giacomo and Nostra Signora della Costa (churches).

Stay tuned for more updates.